WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden will address the nation Thursday night on a series of recent mass shootings and ramp up his call for Congress to pass “commonsense” gun reform measures.
Biden will give remarks on the “epidemic of gun violence” at 7:30 p.m. ET from the White House, delaying his planned departure to Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, where he’s spending the weekend.
The address comes after deadly shootings at supermarket in Buffalo, New York, an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, and a medical center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, havereinvigorated the president’s push for gun reform.
BIDEN URGES GUN REFORMS: After Uvalde, Biden to push for more gun control but says he hasn’t talked to Republicans yet
Biden in the past has said Congress should renew a federal ban on assault weapons and pass new background check requirements. Last week, Bidensaid that 18 years old is too young to be able to purchase a gun.
The speech will be Biden’s second from the White House in just over a week’s span on gun violence, after remarks he gave May 24, shortly after returning from Asia, on the shooting in Uvalde, which killed 21 people.
Biden said Tuesday that he intends to meet with members of Congress, but the White House did not have a timeline for that outreach.
Biden said Wednesday that he’s unsure whether lawmakers will be able to pass gun control legislation.
“I’m never confident, totally,” he told reporters when asked whether he is confident Congress can pass legislation. “It depends. And I don’t know. I’ve not been in on the negotiations that are going on right now.”
Biden on Monday told reporters that he has not spoken with Republicans on gun safety legislation. The president has not outlined what he would like to see from specific legislation, but noted that restrictions on certain rifles and high-capacity magazines should be on the table.
Last week, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said he wants Republican lawmakers to with Democrats on limited gun measures “directly related” to the Uvalde shooting. A bipartisan group of about 10 senators met to discuss possible legislation.
The three topics they discussed included background checks for guns purchased online or at gun shows, red flag laws designed to keep guns away from those who could harm themselves or others and programs to bolster security at schools and other buildings.
Contributing: Donovan Slack
Reach Joey Garrison on Twitter @joeygarrison.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Biden to give gun control address Thursday night
Denial of responsibility! galaxyconcerns is an automatic aggregator around the global media. All the content are available free on Internet. We have just arranged it in one platform for educational purpose only. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, all materials to their authors. If you are the owner of the content and do not want us to publish your materials on our website, please contact us by email – [email protected]. The content will be deleted within 24 hours.